‘Roe v. Wade’ movie confronts controversy

When I first received an email inviting me to screen a new movie coming out called “Roe v. Wade,” I was incredibly hesitant to oblige.

One look at the cast of aging A-listers from Hollywood told me this might be another liberal, pro-choice propaganda piece that glorifies abortion. I’m staunchly pro-life and the thought of a two-hour indoctrination was not appealing. I’m also open minded enough to know that the best way to beat an opponent is to fully understand his perspective. So I hit reply on the email and a short while later was watching the video on my computer.

I was eight years old in 1973 when the U.S. Supreme Court made the controversial landmark ruling that legalized abortion in this country, so I was unfamiliar with the people involved and the backstory. After watching the docudrama “Roe v. Wade,” I consider myself much better educated.

“Roe v. Wade” is an independent film that began streaming online last Friday. Because the subject is so incredibly polarizing it will undoubtedly earn a reputation as a propaganda piece, something Nick Loeb, the co-writer, co-director, and co-star is well aware of. In a recent phone interview with me, Loeb said early reviews have been at the extremes. Reviewers either raved about it or dissed it.

“Nobody’s in the middle, I’ll tell you,” he said.

Loeb and co-writer/co-director Cathy Allyn set out to tell a factual, historical story and to not push an agenda for either side. He said they spent a year conducting research, reading books, articles, and court transcripts. He also researched the people involved in the case.

“I went in to tell a story, not a conspiracy story, I didn’t know (the details),” he said.

Anticipating blowback from people on both sides of the issue, the movie’s website, www.roevwademovie.com, contains a fact check section. It’s sure to get a lot of visits as more people watch the movie. As the movie unfolds, it’s unclear which direction it is heading. There are competing narratives from both the pro-life and pro-choice camps. Loeb portrays Dr. Bernard Nathanson, a prolific abortionist in the 1960s who champions the pro-choice/women’s rights cause. A lot of the movie is his narrative and several times the scene freezes to allow for voiceover narration.

About a third of the way through it becomes clear that the tone of the movie is pro-life, with Nathanson and abortion rights activist Lawrence Lader (Jamie Kennedy) conspiring the plant fake pro-choice propaganda in the media and perpetuating the lucrative abortion gravy train under the guise of helping women.

“I didn’t want to vilify the pro-choice side,” Loeb told me. “They were not evil, bad people. They thought they were doing the best thing for women.”

Norma McCorvey (Summer Joy Campbell), who was identified in the court case as Jane Roe, has only cameo appearances in the film, which Loeb said was on purpose.

“She wasn’t involved in Roe v. Wade at all,” he said.

He said the real McCorvey didn’t find out about the case until it came out in the news.

“People want Norma’s story … but this is bigger than Norma,” Loeb said. “She was just a cog in the wheel.”

In her big scene, she meets with a couple of pro-choice attorneys while seeking to get an abortion but is told they don’t know how or where she can legally get one. Ultimately McCorvey had her baby and gave it up for adoption. By keeping McCorvey unwillingly pregnant they were able to use her as an example for their case to end abortion laws, first in Texas and then nationally. The case was tried in Dallas County where the lawyers sued District Attorney Henry Wade (James Dumont) on McCorvey’s behalf. Working on the pro-life side are National Right to Life Committee co-founder Dr. Mildred Jefferson (Stacey Dash) and attorney Robert Byrn (Joey Lawrence), and others.

The third element in the film are the Supreme Court justices, featuring the all-star cast of Jon Voight as Warren Berger, Robert Davi as William Brennan Jr., Steve Guttenberg as Lewis Powell Jr., John Schneider at Byron White, and Corbin Bernsen as Harry Blackmun. Most of the scenes involving the justices depict behind-the-scenes grandstanding and revelations that family members of two of the justices work for abortion provider Planned Parenthood.

The 7-2 court ruling is made about three-fourths of the way through the film, leaving the latter part to tell the story of Nathanson’s conversion, followed by actual footage of the real-life people involved in the case – primarily Nathanson and McCorvey – explaining why they switched sides.

The movie was independently made on a low budget of under $8 million, which can excuse some of the low production values, but not the lumbering storyline and some of the stilted acting. The big names on the high court give the movie marquee appeal and its best performances. It does have a solid look and feel of the early 1970s, which Loeb said he was proud of given the low budget.

Loeb said the film exposes the “lies and manipulation” of the pro-choice movement leading up to the court case. He is sure to be called out for the same in return by pro-choicers, which is what makes the fact check section of the website so important. To be sure there are historical inaccuracies and exaggeration of events, but Loeb insists story is true. In making this film Loeb has set himself up at the conservative antithesis of ultra-liberal documentarian Michael Moore (“Bowling for Columbine,” “Fahrenheit 9/11”).

Although the movie was long and the drama understated, it was worth the time, if for no other reason than to become familiar with the case that shaped my personal political beliefs and ultimately changed the course of history for this nation and the world.